Westpac lifts its Xmas party ban

WESTPAC has done a major about-face and reinstated Christmas parties for thousands of staff.

At the embattled bank’s AGM in Sydney yesterday, interim chief executive officer Peter King overturned the decision to cancel end-ofyear celebrations for employees.

It comes amid the ongoing child sex exploitation scandal that has dogged the bank.

This now means more than 8000 staff across the country at Westpac and the bank’s subsidiary institutions can hook into bubbles and canapes at celebrations in the remaining days before Christmas.

At the six-hour marathon meeting, Mr King and chairman Lindsay Maxsted were grilled by irate shareholders.

It appeared Mr King made an official on-the-spot decision to restore Christmas festivities for frontline employees.

Following a question from an investor saying, “branch staff have had to put up with all the crap for the mistakes higher up”, Mr King said the parties were back on.

It was the decision of ousted chief executive officer Brian Hartzer to dump Christmas celebrations after AUSTRAC’s allegations that the bank breached the law 23 million times.

However, Mr King’s decision did not extend to staff in Westpac’s head offices.

Shareholders handed Westpac a second strike on executive pay, but it dodged a potential board spill.

Outgoing chairman Lindsay Maxsted faced more than five hours of questioning, with shareholders demanding to know how Australia’s second largest bank will atone for allegedly allowing money transfers linked to child abuse in Asia.